Set in a tall granite column, the statue of Taras Shevchenko greets all who arrive at the sprawling park named after the Ukrainian genius, considered the country’s most important poet of all time. The eminent 19th-century figure, who was also a painter and humanist, remains one of the loudest voices in defense of freedom, naming monuments, squares and universities across Ukraine. After being exiled in Kazakhstan for ten years, Shevchenko is also remembered in yurt of Invincibility, set up a week ago in Odessa, in the south of Ukraine.
Built in the middle of the park, next to the Chornomorets stadium, the yurt – name given to the traditional tents used by the nomadic peoples of Central Asia – recreates the Kazakh atmosphere and provides comfort to visitors. A cultural journey in times of war. Curious about the recreation of a reality she knows so well, Krystyna opens the carved wooden door and ducks inside. “This place is very similar to what we have in Kazakhstan. My mother is Kazakh and my father is from Ukraine, he is Jewish. We have lived in Odessa for many years, but we have relatives there. That was here.”
With little Arnaldo on a violet belt, the yoga teacher sits down on a chair and takes the opportunity to warm up for a few minutes. Look around you. Curved willow slats attached to the ceiling form the dome, which opens during cooking. The walls are covered with natural felt, made of trimmed camel hair, with bright blue, burgundy and beige tapestries. In the background, the flags of Ukraine and Kazakhstan rest next to the portrait of Shevchenko and the panel with some of the works of the Ukrainian visionary. “The atmosphere is really like Kazakhstan,” says Krystyna. There are even enough heaters, sockets and chairs. An “invincible” cabin that also serves to cope with the power outages that continue to occur in Odessa, where life can no longer do without generators. “People can come and charge their electronic devices, drink tea and biscuits or just warm up. Now the weather is milder, but when it was colder there were a lot of people,” explains Anastasia Altshuler.
According to the volunteer, the yurt of invincibility, as it is called, arrived in Ukraine after leaving Kazakhstan and crossing Azerbaijan and Turkey. The project has the support of the Ukraine-Kazakhstan Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group and several Kazakh representatives and businessmen in the country. “People are curious because it’s a different culture, many don’t know about Kazakhstan. That’s why it’s interesting and useful for everyone,” says Anastasia.
In total, Ukraine has five Kazakh tents. When the first was installed in early January in the martyr city of Bucha, the gesture of solidarity did not please Moscow, which asked for an explanation from Astana. Since the start of the war, the former Soviet republic has been wary of demonstrations of support for Ukraine because of its age-old relationship with Russia, with which it shares a 7,000-kilometer border.
Source: DN
